Hey y'all. The truck is a 96 F150 with the 4.9L and 5spd manual. I was about to leave for church today when I was greeted with a lovely ticking sound emanating from the engine. Truck has about 200,000, has had regular oil changes with Rotella T4 10w-30 rated for diesel engines, and as far as I know has never had any issues with internal components such as rods, bearings, valves, etc. I feel that the noise is likely a lifter tick. I revved the engine up and down and the noise would dissipate at certain RPM's but return at idle. Though it did not go away, the tick did seem to quiet down after revving the engine and letting it idle. Does anyone have suggestions as to diagnosing if it's lifter/rocker arm related? I doubt it would be a rod knock because it does not sound deep in the engine, but this also would be my worst fear. This truck annoyingly has the EGR tube routed through the upper intake manifold, meaning I would have to remove the whole tube to remove the upper intake to get access to the valve cover, so I would like to not go into all this work unless I'm going in there knowing what to look for. I live in a college town and the mechanic shops have left a bad taste in my mouth, so I would like to avoid this route unless it's necessary. I am mechanically inclined with good access to hand tools, but also a college student who would be doing this work in my parking lot. Long post, sorry. Thanks

 

Take a long screwdriver or metal tube and isolate exactly where the noise is coming from. Then you should be able to get help here. Since the engine needs to be running, STAY AWAY FROM THE FAN, BELTS AND PULLEYS . BE VERY VERY CAREFUL.

 

On the 4.9L you can pull the lifter cover on the side of the block without removing the valve cover. Having said that, you cannot remove the lifters without removing the pushrods, which requires removal of the valve cover... But you could pull the lifter cover and take a look to see if there was excessive slack between the pushrods and lifters.

 

If it's lifter tick, I wouldn't sweat it, and drive as normal. My '92, 300, had the same, but only at startup. The engine only had 133,000 miles, so it was babied. Most lifter tick is at startup, and the 4.9 has many complaints in this category. It's due to the engine design and oiling system.

If the truck runs fine, drive it and enjoy a bulletproof engine from Ford. The 4.9 is known for being run low on oil, and water and still keeps running.

 

I agree with this assessment. The 4.9L is a tough engine. I wouldn't sweat a ticking lifter... especially if it goes away after the engine warms up.